The present invention broadly relates to tying devices, which can be used to secure objects together. More specifically, the present invention relates to tying devices known as xe2x80x9ccable tiesxe2x80x9d especially as they are employed as wrist and leg cuffs.
The need to quickly and temporarily restrain individuals taken into custody by peace officers has long been known. This is necessary both to prevent escape of those persons while being transported to detention facilities as well as to reduce the likelihood of injury to law enforcement personnel after taking an individual into custody. Traditionally, steel handcuffs have been employed for this purpose. Here, as is known, the standard steel handcuff device includes a pair of lockable rings, which extends around the wrists or ankles of a person with these rings being secured together by a short length of chain.
Due to the expense and bulkiness of traditional metal handcuffs, however, various law enforcement and peacekeeping agencies have sought out replacement devices, which can be used as temporary restraints on persons taken into custody. One such device, which has received significant interest, is the traditional cable tie, which is a device used to bind objects together in a bundle or for other similar purposes. The traditional cable tie includes a locking head that has a relatively open interior with a locking pawl formed therein. An elongated strap extends from the locking head and can be bent upon itself to form a closed loop upon insertion through the locking head. The elongated strap has teeth running a substantial portion of its length so that the loop formed by the strap maybe reduced in size by continued insertion of the strap through the locking head. The ratcheting pawl locks against these teeth and prevents withdrawal of the strap or expansion of the dimension of the loop.
Cable ties have a number of distinct advantages when used to secure objects. Cable ties can accommodate bundles of varying sizes and shapes. Also, because the loop which secures the objects is not formed until the user inserts the free end of the strap through the locking head, there is no need to position an object through an already closed loop. Rather, the strap may simply be trained around the object to be secured and the free end is then easily attached by simply inserting the free end of the strap through the locking head. Also, cable ties have the advantage of being made of lightweight yet strong plastic material. Another advantage of cable ties over other methods of securing objects is that after installation, pulling the free end of the strap tightly through the locking head may increase the tension on the looped strap.
It has also been known for some time that cable ties and similar devices employing flexible straps that are adjustably looped into locks that use one way ratchets can be used as cuffs to restrain a person taken into custody. Here, the cable tie is simply looped around a person""s wrists or ankles, and the loop is tightened so that the extremities are bound together thus preventing free use of the person""s arms and/or legs. With respect to the arms, this is typically accomplished with the person""s hands being placed behind his or her back. Law enforcement personnel have used cable ties for this purpose for some time in place of the traditional metal handcuffs because the lightweight nature and inexpense of the cable ties.
A drawback in the use of traditional cable ties and similar ratcheting locking strap devices is that they typically can only be used a single time. Thus, in order to release a restrained person, it is necessary to cut the cable tie from the wrist and/or ankles. This destroys the usefulness of the device so that it must be replaced after every use. Moreover, during the removal operation, there is some risk of injury either to the restrained person employing the cutting instrument should the restrained individual struggle or otherwise move. Another danger in such devices is that the restrained person may either purposely or inadvertently pull on the free end of the strap thereby reducing the size of the fastening loop to an extreme that might cut off blood circulation to the extremities. At this point, the restraining device must be removed and, if destroyed, a new device employed. This is often not convenient or even possible in most situations where restraining devices are employed.
In addition to the traditional cable tie, other restraining devices operating on the concept of free strap looped into a ratcheting lock have been developed. These include, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,071,023 to Gregory that includes a pair of free straps and a pair of ratcheting locks. U.S. Pat. No. 5,088,148 to Burkholder is similar to the Gregory patent, but includes a pair of ratcheting locks that are positioned on a single mount. U.S. Pat. No. 5,099,662 to Tsay includes a mechanism to release a ratchet to allow reuse of the device. U.S. Pat. No. 4,964,419 to Karriker includes a mechanism to expand and contract the cuff size. U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,794,461 and 5,377,510 by Smith use a plurality of teeth in a reusable device which limits the ability to adjust the loop and requires a particular toothed locking structure so that effective contact can occur between the toothed strap and the complementary locking head. The devices described in the Smith patents use a plastic hinge and pawl. In actual use the hinge can be over rotated and destroyed. Moreover, the plurality of teeth only allows for so much variation of the loop diameter.
There is therefore a need for a restraint device that is reusable and is operable with a key in a fashion that allows for infinite adjustability without the complicated locking tooth structures as set forth in various prior art devices.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a new and useful restraint device which is inexpensive and lightweight in construction.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a restraint device that is reusable.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a restraint device of a cable-tie-type which is key operated and which is structured to resist picking.
Still a further object of the present invention is to provide a restraint device of improved structure to provide a more durable product.
To accomplish these objects the key operated restraining device of the present invention is adapted to create a securing loop of adjustable dimension in order to secure one or more objects, for example, to act as a releasable handcuff device for restraining persons taken into custody. Broadly, the key operated restraining device according to the present invention includes a locking head portion that has an interior, and an elongated strap has a proximal end connected to the locking head portion and extends terminate in a distal free end. The first surface of an elongated smooth or roughened strap is insertable through a locking head portion which is able to reversibly and securely engage the strap to form a securing loop of adjustable dimension.
A support block is disposed in the interior of the head portion and terminates in spaced relation with respect to an interior wall surface thereof. Similarly, a pawl member is disposed in the interior of the head portion and terminates in spaced relation to the wall surface. Thus, the region between the pawl member and the interior wall surface and between the support block and the interior wall surface form a slideway that is sized for close-fitted mated engagement with the strap portion. The pawl member includes a locking structure disposed thereon so that, when the strap portion is inserted into the locking head portion, the locking structure on the pawl member engages the smooth strap on the first surface of the elongated strap portion to lockably retain the strap portion therein. Thus, as the strap portion is moved in a direction to reduce the dimension of the securing loop, the spike engages the strap by penetrating the surface of the strap a short distance which is restricted by the pawl member. The spike is either forcibly inserted into the pawl at time of manufacture, press fitted after manufacture or molded into the pawl during the manufacturing process. The pawl member is connected to the locking head by means of a resilient hinge structure that biases the pawl member into a locking position to lockably engage the strap portion while the hinge structure maybe moved into a released position wherein the locking structure is disengaged from the strap. The pawl member and the support block are, together, configured to form a keyway therebetween which is sized and adapted to receive a key therein, and the pawl member is constructed so that rotation of the key in a first rotational direction moves the pawl element from the locking position to the release position.
Preferably, the locking head portion is formed as a housing that includes an upper wall, a lower wall opposite the upper wall and a pair of opposed sidewalls which interconnect the upper and lower walls thereby to define the interior. The support block and the pawl member are then connected to the upper wall such that a region between the interior surface of the lower wall and the support block and the pawl member defines the slideway. The strap then extends outwardly from the upper wall. The keyway is then preferably oriented along a keyway axis that is transverse to the slideway and the keyway may include an option post element that is located centrally in the keyway and that extends along the keyway axis. A key hole may be provided in one of the sidewalls with this key hole being aligned with the keyway so that a key may be inserted through a sidewall to matably engage the post structure, if there is one, while in the keyway after which the key may be rotated in the first rotational direction to disengage the pawl member, as desired. With this structure, the support block forms a first end wall for the locking head. An optional second endwall may be provided opposite the support block so that the interior of the locking head is substantially enclosed.
It is preferred that the strap member have a second surface which is formed as an uninterrupted planar surface. Similarly, the interior wall surface, such as the interior surface of the lower wall, may be formed in a smooth, uninterrupted plane so that the second surface of the strap portion may slidably engage the interior wall surface in a smooth, uninterrupted manner. To facilitate insertion of distal free end of the strap portion into the slideway, the region between the interior wall surface and the support block may be formed to be outwardly divergent thereby to form an enlarged entryway for the slideway.
These and other objects of the present invention will become more readily appreciated and understood from a consideration of the following detailed description of the exemplary embodiments when taken together with the accompanying drawings, in which: